Campaign of the Month:
March 2012

Shattered Solstice

Unwilling to support Tavitha, Ember and the Haunted Blade return to the previous chamber to await the gem dragons only to find a weapon of another sort facing them: a tarrasque. As they face the beast Obsidian, Marcus and Tavitha engage Lerelan. The battle above is even for a time, but the battle with the tarrasque goes poorly, forcing Ember and the Haunted Blade to fall back. With the field shrinking, Obsidian begins to lash out at the Orb of Dragonkind directly, damaging it and then causing it to slowly release energy. Unable to stop the inevitable now, Lerelan moves to manipulate the energy as she did thousands of years ago; joined by Tavitha who still seeks her revenge. This allows the group to turn a singular focus to the tarrasque which in turn is attempting to stop Lerelan and Tavitha. Despite the creature’s best efforts, moments later it lay dead on the floor of the chamber and Lerelan and Tavitha were able to complete their work; the later not surviving the process.

Though the astral dreadnought proves a resilient guardian, it is eventually defeated. Moving deeper into the complex the group finds the Orb of Dragonkind and Lerelan and several devas protecting it. For a time the group tries to convince her to step aside, but her adamant stance instead starts to wear away at the resolve of the party. But when they learn that the gem dragons had not left this encounter to chance, all parties involved are forced to act.

Though not entirely convinced that releasing the energy of the Orb of Dragonkind is the right move, the general consensus of the group is that they have no better alternatives. Hoping they might corrupt the energy in some fashion though they approach Tavitha. She is less than agreeable though as the gem dragons did something to limit her power before they left. But when it’s revealed that the group wants to taint the energy of the Orb of Dragonkind, she readily agrees to help. Upon arriving at the vault within the Tear of Ashin, the group finds the dragons Anastas left behind torn apart. And as they enter the facility proper they are attacked by an astral dreadnought.

Taking anything of value, the group leaves Anastas’ den and seals it behind them. They then set into motion a plan to exit the city and join Betrayer and Deceiver to learn how to use the gem dragon hive mind to their advantage. As they use the death of Lord Ember’s family as an excuse to leave their posts, Pherick confirms the death of Anastas and makes a move that will restore Xairus to the status quo, with Nowell gaining significant influence as Teodil is pushed out of office. The party’s exit strategy falls apart when the group is confronted by their gem dragon patrons who learned that something was amiss. Their offer is simple: destroy the Orb of Dragonkind that Anastas had discovered and the gem dragons would leave them be. Having few choices, the group agreed.

While Tavitha and Marcus make an effort to hold Sietten at bay, Ember, Obsidian and the Haunted Blade launch their assault on Anastas. The battle is close, and as the Age of Stone starts working against Ember and the Haunted Blade, the Silver Regent begins to taunt the parties. But as Obsidian’s attacks continue to land the dragon becomes aware of the truth only to be finally struck down.

With the Deluvian Hourglass at full corcordance, the assault on the Katian estate begins. Using an overcast night as cover, an aerial drop brings the party in unseen, and within a few moments they are inside the building. Concerned about the ease in which they entered, they still press forward to the second floor where they are ambushed by a rune inscribed dracolich. The beast uses powerful suppression abilities to control the fight, prompting the group to push past it without defeating it, only to find Anastas Katian waiting for them.

As the group plans its next move their gem dragon patrons initiate contact and speak to them of The Betrayer and The Deceiver, two former Asteria who are both dangerous and untrustworthy. In addition, First, in control of the Haunted Blade, follows up with Garnet on a way to remove Aza from the sword. In the time since they had last spoken, Deliana had learned that entropy can destroy the sword, and that affect could be amplified by the followers of Lyeina in the Inda Dhwai. Neither piece of information changes the fact that Anastas must die, and to do that the Deluvian Hourglass must be at concordance. To that end they summoned a warwing, an ancient immortal weapon created by the Keepers as a dragon killer, and destroyed it.

Within short order the group discovers that the immediate female family members of Marcus, Obsidian and Ember have all been killed. Furthermore, the ring owned by Ember’s sister was stolen by the killer, in addition to a necklace owned by Ember’s mother. When Sorina is killed as well, the necklace of Ember’s mother left with the body, the killers initiate contact with the group. They are former Asteria who turned against the gem dragons that had used them. And though they had taken Anastas’ contract to kill the female family of the party as vengeance for the death of Larisa, now that that business was done they tried to get the party to leave the employ of the gem dragons and regain their freedom. As a sign of good faith they showed the group how to access the raw hive mind of the gem dragons, proving that no mental communication was private if one knew how to listen in.

Needing an expert in healing to install the arcane runestones, the party turns to Schenna Zume. The high priestess demands everything the group recovered at the South Pole to evaluate before she will commit. The group hands over the research and a few days later Schenna performs the necessary operations (though all research on infecting the gods was destroyed). A short time later Ember begins hearing odd mental sounds before coming across a murdered woman wearing a ring similar to that worn by his sister. The group tries to hunt these killers, but their efforts fall short. But when when the Sending to Ember’s sister receives no response the group turns their attention inward and discovers that the women of Marcus’ family have been killed.

In the lowest level of the second structure they come upon a pool of some unidentified fluid. Rising out of the liquid, the Archivist makes one final attempt to stop the party, but ultimately fails. Moving to the third and final structure the group finds a massive workshop dedicated towards experimentation upon immortal beings. At its center is Ephiseshen. Upon coming face to face with the mastermind that created arcane energy through the corruption of the elemental chaos, Tavitha immediately attacks. It is only with the help of the Eidolon and Cerberus that the party is successful, though Cerberus is struck down by Ephiseshen before he dies.